birth, land, or military record - William Burke

[Kellbell]

I have been searching for information about my ancestor, William Burke for about 5 years and have reached a dead end.  If you could help me find ANYTHING useful about his life in Northern Ireland, it would be greatly appreciated! 
What I know of him was that he was born in 1738 in N. Ireland (county or township uncertain).  He moved to Prince Edward Island, Canada sometime around 1770.  He became a member of a loyalist militia group called the St. John's Volunteers, and later called the Prince Edward Island Fencibles.  I believe it is possible he was a part of the Queen's military before going to Canada.  He married (in PEI) Catherine Jamieson from around Perthshire Scotland in 1777.  She was part of the group of settlers sent over by Townsend to Stanhope Cove, PEI.   Anyway, William's occupation was listed as a Ferryman.  I thought that might help to narrow down his location in N. Ireland, since it appears that Larne and Belfast were the only two towns that there was a ferry service.  If anyone knows anything that could help me, please let me know.  This one is driving me crazy! 

[aghadowey]

Have already replied on this thread:
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=823.new

You will not be able to find any information about William in Ireland without a place. If you do eventually find where he came from (parish if not townland not just the county) then there is a very strong chance that there will be no surviving church records or even many other records to check.

[Kellbell]

Do you have any other suggestions as to where I might look?  What about military records or immigration records?  It is my understanding that there was very little migration to or from Ireland at that time period.  Am I right?

[aghadowey]

No, there were always people leaving Ireland. The records you are looking for might not exist in Ireland. The best thing to do would be to search all the records in Canada. Headstones, local histories, etc. often mention birthplaces of early settlers.

[Kellbell]

I might have been misinformed then.  I was told by a historian that there was very little migration going on in the mid to late 1700's.   I, as well as many others have done EXTENSIVE research in PEI and have been unable to turn up any useful information on William's Irish past.  My mother went there last year and was also unsuccessful.  That is where we have all reached a dead end.  I appreciate your help.  I think I am just going to have to keep rooting in Ireland!  

[aghadowey]

You can hardly 'keep rooting in Ireland' without a place or least an area to search.

Back to P.E.I.- have you been through all possible links on PEIGenweb?
www.islandregister.com/pegenweb.html

Have you found details of any groups of people from Ireland/U.K. settling in the area where William did?

As I mentioned before it may be that there are no surviving records in Ireland even if you were to find a much more exact place.

[Kellbell]

yes, we have left no stone unturned in PEI...and there aren't many stones to turn believe you me! lol  There are many of us decendents, including many living in PEI who have been trying for years to uncover the mystery surrounding William's birthplace, to no avail.  I and others have also submitted our DNA (well, my father's) in hopes of finding a link to someone from a particular location in the Emerald Isle. That is what I was referring to when I said I would "keep rooting" in Ireland.  Once I find a connection, I plan to go to Ireland to find some relatives and seek info there if need be.  It may be that my only hope for finding anything about him will be through family bibles, wills, etc.  There HAS to be something out there. 

[Linda K Berkeley]

Hi,

I didn't see your post until now. William Burke was my grandfather x 6 or 7. My father was Frederick Duncan Berkeley II (his father, my grandfather, was Frederick Duncan Burke (later Berkeley), son of William Milligan Burke.

I've gotten no further with finding out where in Northern Ireland either! Have you? Are you on Ancestry?

Hope to hear from you.

Sincerely, Linda

[Kellbell]

Hi Linda! I just saw this post. It is great to hear from you!  We appear to be something like 5th cousins.  I have been trying to find information on our several times g-grandfather William for about 10 years. I had been working with our cousin Patrick Burke for many years and have learned quite a lot about his past military history, but cannot seem to find any exact birth location in Ireland. It has been extremely frustrating and a bit disheartening to think we may never know. I have submitted my dad's DNA on familytreedna.com and so has Patrick, in hopes that we will find an Irish connection. I believe someone with the Berkeley name came up and Patrick contacted them and tried to convine them to get tested with more markers so we could determine how close we were, but he/she declined. That was many years ago. We found close connections with several people, but still could not trace the ancestry to Ireland. A few of them seemed to keep leading us to N.C and VA.  If you turn up anything, please share it with me. I will gladly do the same! 😊 In the meantime I will keep rooting!